28 m. ago PMQs: Starmer says there is ‘no easy answer’ to finding way of seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine – UK politics live

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks prime minister about frozen Russian assets in the UK after sanctioning of two Israeli ministers on TuesdayGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership ch...

Politics

57 m. ago Incredible legacy left by Scots woman diagnosed with MS as loved ones dedicate 40 years to charity

Mary Donald's sister and husband have given more than 40 years to others through volunteering.

Politics

84 m. ago Magdalena, Woman of Joy review – sex, sin and saintliness with a tour de force host

Playhouse East, LondonLily Sinko rages, writhes, provokes and teases her way through the horrifying life story of her storyteller with cartoonish abandonMagdalena appears from the dark, perched on a bar stool, cigarettes and liquor by her side, an array of hanging lamps casting a sultry glow. Her first words set the tone – “You want to fuck me,” she says – and lead us into an uncompromising introduction, littered with sex, violence and sideways jokes.She is the creation of French-English actor and writer Lily Sinko, and as her character’s name suggests, we’re hurled through a life of saintliness and sin, despair and redemption, as Magdalena does the best with the hand she’s dealt. We travel to her childhood in Marseille with a hostile “Papa”, an airport abduction that sees her deposited at the Virgin Mary School for Bad Bad Girls (Cash Only), and a wild escape through the streets of France, finding fleeting refuge in a cathedral.At Playhouse East, London, until 28 June Continue read...

Politics

88 m. ago Murderer makes a chilling last hand gesture before convulsing as he's suffocated to death in 'cruel' nitrogen mask execution in Alabama

An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman in 1988 was put to death Tuesday evening in the nation's sixth execution by nitrogen gas.

Events

98 m. ago Moray crash: Two woman dead after crash on Scottish road as Police Scotland investigate

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the two women who died.”

Events

1 hour ago Woman loses four stone and keeps weight off for five years without giving up ice cream

Losing weight doesn't have to mean missing out on the things you love, as Brianna discovered after her weight loss transformation

Politics

1 hour ago Man hospitalised after two houses destroyed by Derby gas explosion

A dog was also found with injuries and has been passed into veterinary care

Society

2 h. ago Kate Garraway reveals secret health issue that made it 'dangerous' to be Derek's carer

Kate Garraway has opened up on the tough times she had while trying to care for her late husband Derek Draper while also dealing with her own health issues

Society

2 h. ago 'My neighbours won't clear up dog poo so I came up with petty solution'

A fed up woman has slammed lazy dog walker to fail to pick up their pets' mess when taking them out for their daily exercise - and it has caused others to join in her 'protest'

Politics

3 h. ago Extend your bananas' shelf life by 10 days using this simple kitchen trick

Bananas spoil quickly - however, one woman has shared a simple way to keep them fresh for longer, and it doesn't involve a fruit bowl.

Politics

3 h. ago Death row inmate made haunting final hand symbol before being executed for killing a woman

An Alabama man who was executed yesterday for the 1988 murder of a woman made a chilling final hand gesture before being put to death with nitrogen gas.

Events

3 h. ago Man arrested on suspicion of murder after death of woman in Welsh village

Police are investigating the death which is being treated as an isolated incident

Events

3 h. ago Moment woman throws 'toddler tantrum' at airport after staff weigh her luggage

Stunned travellers at Milan Malpensa Airport watched as the middle-aged woman rolled on the ground, stamped her feet and pounded her fists on the floor while wailing and yelling

Politics

3 h. ago Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way by Elaine Feeney review – a satisfying tale of memory and place

Stories within stories give fascinating depth to the prize-winning author’s third novel, about a woman’s return to her family home in the west of IrelandElaine Feeney’s third novel, following the success of her prize-winning debut As You Were and the Booker-longlisted How to Build a Boat, focuses on Claire O’Connor, a woman who has moved from London back to Athenry in the west of Ireland in the wake of her mother’s death. Her new life is disturbed when she finds her ex-partner Tom has moved in down the road. Or rather, that’s one thread in a story that becomes steadily more interesting than this simple set-up from the romance novelist’s playbook, as layers of family memory and trauma build up to form a portrait of the wider O’Connor family: all their history, the way it has shaped them and the traces it has left on the places around.Claire shows herself to be unusually attuned to the history of her home place, telling stories about nearby Thoor Ballylee, where Yeats lived; Lady...

Politics

3 h. ago Trump’s war on Harvard was decades in the making. This letter proves it | Bernard Harcourt

A message tucked into an old book serves as a reminder that the assault on the institution is part of a long-planned effortOn the shelf in my library, I have an autographed copy of a book written by a former Republican congressman from New York, John LeBoutillier, titled Harvard Hates America: The Odyssey of a Born-Again American. It was published in 1978, two years before LeBoutillier was elected to Congress – and decades before the Trump administration’s assault on the institution. But its message is familiar in 2025.The book is a scathing criticism of Harvard University, in large part over its supposed left-leaning professors who allegedly indoctrinate their undergraduates. Its thrust is straightforward: Harvard is America’s problem.Long after I had graduated from Harvard and was a freshman member of Congress, I realized just how terrible some of the people educating our young are; they are not only liberals, but they use their “power” over their students to preach an anti-Americ...

Events

3 h. ago Consecration review – creepy nuns deliver the classic moves of holy terror very effectively

Purest hokum, of course, but what hokum! Real pride has gone into crafting this set of shocks, and it’s very well acted in beautiful locationsThis is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a wimple. In this well-crafted horror movie, a young woman called Grace (Jena Malone) finds herself up against a bunch of nuns who may or may not be trying to do something extremely dodgy with an unknown relic, and as with last year’s Omen prequel, there’s a nice line in casting here from the Ladybird Book of Horror Nuns. There’s dotty young nun who pops up going “peekaboo” (Eilidh Fisher), an arrogant mother superior (Janet Suzman), a hardliner weapon-of-Christ sort (Jolade Obasola), and the rather rarer spooky nun with one eye hidden behind an ominous white bandage (Alexandra Lewis). Their acting is uniformly excellent, as is that from Danny Huston, who plays a priest who introduces himself thusly: “I’m Father Romero, I’m here from the Vatican,” which announces him as probably up to no good...

Events

4 h. ago Progress unravelled, and millions left vulnerable: how British aid cuts threaten British health too | Sarah Champion

The UK faces a critical choice: follow the global trend of disengagement or stand firm in backing health securityRight now, aid reductions across the globe are jeopardising decades of progress against preventable diseases, leaving millions of people vulnerable. This retreat from global health threatens to unravel hard-won advances against diseases we have nearly conquered.Polio, which paralysed hundreds of thousands of children annually just 40 years ago, has been eliminated in most parts of the world. Meanwhile, there has been a resurgence of diseases such as measles and cholera in populations besieged by conflict and climate emergencies.Sarah Champion is the Labour MP for Rotherham Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago Kate Garraway reveals scary moment GMB staff rushed her to hospital fearing heart attack

Kate Garraway has revealed the moment Dr Hilary told Good Morning Britain staff to get her urgent medical care amid fears of a heart attack prior to the breakfast show

Events

5 h. ago A moment that changed me: I went to a death cafe – and learned how to live a much happier life

I felt peace flood over me as I realised I no longer needed to seek validation from others. Rather than saying yes to everything, I became more open, present and patient‘Are you afraid of dying, or are you afraid of not living?” Last year, I was sitting in a circle of strangers – half Buddhist monks, half morbidly curious members of the public – when someone asked one of the most profound questions I had ever heard. I was at a “death cafe”, at my local Buddhist centre in south London. A plate of biscuits was passed around while people nursed mugs of hot tea. At 29, I was one of the youngest attending the informal chat about death and dying, which was part of an initiative to encourage more open conversations about the ends of our lives.During the session, people reflected on the lives of those they had lost. Stories were shared about the joyful moments they had had together. A woman asked me why I would want to come to something like this, at my age. I looked around before revealing...

Events

6 h. ago Scotland's Health Awards 2025: Nominations open as Health Secretary Neil Gray urges 'do it today'

Health Secretary Neil Gray is encouraging everyone to nominate those who have gone above and beyond in health and social care.

Society